Dispensing sleeve and closure construction



Sept. 8, 1964 w. J. ECKLES DISPENSING SLEEVE AND CLOSURE CONSTRUCTIONFiled Aug. 10. 1961 Z 4 M 4 r a w m; 0 3 m INVENTOR. W/LL/AM J. ECKLESBY OER/AN & BLACKHAM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,147,857 DISPENSENGSLEEVE AND CLOSURE CUNSTRUCTHQN William J. Eckles, 1117 S. CambridgeSt., Anwenn, Calif. Filed Aug. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 130,527 4 Claims.(ill. 206-56) This invention pertains to a new and improved type offlexible sleeve and closure construction and more specifically to theuse of such construction in conjunction with packages for articles suchas lozenges and the hke.

Such articles are commonly marketed at the present time in the form ofsmall tubular packages in which they have end faces in direct contactwith one another in which they are surrounded by a flexible, protectivewrapper. Normally this wrapper consists of a foil or coated paperwrapping which extends not only around the exterior surfaces of thearticles but which is bent or deformed so as to constitute end closures.Such a wrapper also normally includes a tubular paper sleeve locatedaround this wrapping serving as a protective cover and serving as meansfor displaying, advertising, usage or similar indicia.

During the use of packages of this type it is difiicult to obtain asingle article without disrupting the entire package in such a mannerthat the articles remaining in it are satisfactorily protected fromcontamination of the like. Further, during the use of packages of thisgeneral type frequently a messy situation results as a consequence ofthe torn portions of the wrapper being exposed so that undesired tearingof the wrapping tends to occur as the package is handled or stored.These factors are considered material inasmuch as the average individuallikes to make certain of the sanitary condition of such articles asthroat lozenges or the like before consuming such articles.

A broad object of the present invention is to provide new and improveddispensing sleeve and closure constructions for use with tubularpackages of the type indicated in the preceding so as to avoid theundesirable consequences and diiiiculties briefly indicated in thepreceding paragraph. A further object of the present invention is toprovide dispensing sleeve and closure constructions of this type whichmay be easily and conveniently manufactured at a comparatively nominalcost, which may be installed upon existing tubular packages with aminimum of difiiculty, and which are easy to utilize for their in tendedpurposes once they are installed upon a package. A still further objectof the present invention is to provide in combination a tubular packageof the type indicated in the preceding paragraphs of this specificationand a dispensing sleeve and closure construction which serves tofacilitate the removal of articles from such a package and in themaintenance of sanitary conditions with respect to articles remaining ina package after one or more articles have been removed from it.

These and various other objects of this invention as well as manyspecific advantages of it will be more apparent from a detailedconsideration of the remainder of this specification and theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the combination of adispensing sleeve and closure of this invention upon an elongatedtubular package;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exploded nature showing the parts ofthe dispensing sleeve and closure illustrated in the preceding figure;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with a cap employed in the dispensingsleeve and closure illustrated in the preceding figures removed with apart of this device in a dispensing position.

$347,857 Patented Sept. 8, 1964 The accompanying drawing is primarilyintended so as to clearly illustrate a presently preferred embodiment orform of this invention. From a detailed consideration of thisspecification and of the drawing those skilled in the packaging fieldwill have no difiiculty in realizing that various minor changes of aroutine design or engineering nature may be made in the precisestructure illustrated without departing from the inventive features orprinciples of this invention as defined or summarized in the claimsappended to this specification.

As an aid to understanding the invention it can be stated in essentiallysummary form that it concerns the utilization of a tubular sleeve and acap adapted to be removably secured to one end of this sleeve inconjunction with an elongated tubular package holding disk or otherdifferently shaped articles used for medical, confectionary and/orsimilar purposes. With the present invention this sleeve is adapted tofit around such a package and is f rmed so that it is capable of beingmoved along the length of the package and so as to be located in adesired position in order to expose one or more articles in the packagein such a manner that the exposed articles or article may be removedwithout disturbing the remainder of the contents of the package and insuch a manner that the cap may be located upon the sleeve after thisoperation so as to protect the articles remaining in the package.

The actual details of this invention will be more fully apparent from adetailed consideration of the accompanying drawing. Here there is showna dispensing sleeve and closure construction lid of the presentinvention used in conjunction with a known type of elongated cylindricalpackage 12. This package holds a plurality of diskshaped articles 14-,each of which has beveled edges 16. The articles 14 are located withinthe package 12 in a coaxial manner so that their ends abut one another;they are held in this configuration by means of a flexible wrapper is.

Normally this wrapper consists of a foil or coated paper wrapping 24which is deformed so as to extend around the articles l t and so as tohave ends 22 which are bent so as to enclose and cover the ends of thearticles 14 at the ends of the package 12. The wrapper 13 normally alsoincludes a cylindrical paper or similar sleeve 24 which is disposedabout the exterior of the wrapper 20 and which holds this wrapping 2% soas to prevent it from coming apart. The sleeve 24 normally is formed sothat its exterior contains display, advertising usage and/or othersimilar indicia (not separately indicated). It will be realized from theforegoing that the wrapper 18 is of a character such that it can bereadily deformed by contact with the digits of the hand or the like andsuch that it is capable of being easily torn as the package 12 isopened. Preferably the wrapper 18 is deformed so as to create peripheralgrooves 25 fitting between the beveled edges 16 of the articles 14. Thedispensing sleeve and closure 10 of the present invention includes acylindrical sleeve 26 formed out of a deformable material which isself-supporting and which is incapable of being readily torn and/orpermanently deformed to other than a desired position as, for example,if it should accidentally become bent. This sleeve 26 may be easilyformed out of any of a large number of known different plastic materialssuch as cellulose acetate, polystyrene or the like. Such materials arecapable of temporary deformation and of returning to an initialconfiguration or position after such deformation.

From an examination of FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing it will be seen thatsleeve 26 is formed so as to fit closely against the exterior of thesleeve 24 forming the exterior of the wrapper 18. Preferably thedimensions are-"ass? of the sleeve 26 are such that its interior iscapable of forming what may be referred to as friction fit against theexterior of the wrapper 18 so that this sleeve 26 may be engaged bydigits of the hand and moved along the length of the package 12. Inorder to facilitate such movement serrations 28 or other simliar knurledor related surfaces (not illustrated) may be formed on the exterior ofthe sleeve 26.

Preferably the interior of the sleeve 26 is formed so as to include atleast one continuous internal projection 30 which extends in a planeperpendicular to the axis of the sleeve 26 completely around theinterior of the sleeve 26. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of thedrawing a plurality of these projections 36 are preferably employed withthe present invention. Each of the projections 30 is preferablydimensioned with respect to the package 12 so as to be capable oftemporarily deforming adjacent parts of the wrapper 18 generally betweenthe articles 14 so as to fit between the beveled edges 16 of thesearticles during the utilization of the dispensing sleeve and closureshown. When a plurality of the projections are preferably regularlyspaced from one another so as to all fit between the beveled edges 16 onadjacent articles 14 in the package 12. When the projections fit theydeform the wrapper 18. This wrapper 18 and the individual parts of itset forth above are capable of temporary deformation so as to allow theprojection 30 illustrated to pass over the exterior of the package 12 asthe sleeve 26 is being moved along its length.

The dispensing sleeve and closure shown also includes a cap 32 having atop wall 34 and a peripheral cylindrical skirt 36. This skirt isdimensioned so as to fit closely against the exterior of the sleeve 26with the wall 34 resting against an end 38 of this sleeve. Preferablythe cap is formed of a similar material used in forming the sleeve 26.Also preferably coacting means (not separately numbered) are formed onthe interior of the skirt 36 and the exterior of the sleeve 26 so as tohold the cap 32 with respect to the sleeve 26. These coacting means mayinclude a groove located on the exterior of the sleeve 26 adjacent tothe end 38 so as to extend completely around the sleeve 26 in a planetransverse to the axis of it, and a projection 42 of similar characteradapted to fit within the groove 40 which projection 42 is formed on theinside of the cylindrical skirt 36. If desired serrations or the like 44may be located on the exterior of the skirt 36 so as to facilitate itsbeing engaged by the digits of the hand and so as to facilitate itsbeing temporarily deformed as it is being located or moved upon thesleeve 26.

The utilization of the complete dispensing sleeve and closureconstruction 10 illustrated in the drawing is comparatively simple. Thissleeve and closure construction 10 may be located upon the package 12either by the manufacturer or by an ultimate consumer if such a consumershould purchase the sleeve and closure construction 10 separate andapart from the package 12 so as to be positioned as indicated in FIGS. 1and 3 of the drawing. When so located an article 14 may be removed fromthe package 12 by the simple expedient of removing the cap 32 from thesleeve 26 and moving this sleeve 26 along the length of the package 12so as to place one or more articles 14 beyond the end 33 of the sleeve26. The projections 30 will tend to snap into place into the grooves 25during this operation so as to insure that when motion is stopped thatthe end 38 is located in a dispensing position as indicated in FIG. 4.At this time the portions of the wrapper 18 beyond this end 38 areexposed and may be readily torn off of the complete package 12 using theend 38 as a tear guide. When this occurs obviously the exposed articles14 are available for use. The cap 32 may be replaced upon the sleeve 26.

Operations of this type may be thus performed until such time as only aminor portion of the package 12 fits within the sleeve 26, At this pointthe remaining part it of the package may be easily thrust into anaccessible position with respect to the end 38 forcing a digit of thehand or the like into the interior of the sleeve remote from the end 38.

From a consideration of the preceding discussion of the sleeve andclosure construction 10 it will be realized that the term tubular can beapplied to this construction as designating the various cylindricalparts of it and that the package 12 may also be considered as being of atubular form. It will be obvious from a consideration of this that thesleeve and closure constructions falling within the scope of thisinvention can be formed so as to have eliptical or other similarconfigurations corresponding to the shapes of various packages of thesame broad category as the package 12 previously described.

Because of the nature of this invention and the fact that variouschanges of a routine engineering nature may be made in the structureshown this invention is to be considered as being limited solely by theappended claims forming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. In combination,

an elongated cylindrical package, said package including a plurality ofdisk-shaped articles, each of said articles having beveled edges, saidarticles being arranged coaxially so that their ends abut one another,said package also including a flexible exterior wrapper located aroundsaid articles;

a cylindrical sleeve having a length corresponding to the thickness ofat least two of said articles, said sleeve fitting closely against theexterior of said wrapper, said sleeve including at least one continuousprojection extending around its interior, said projection being capableof deforming said wrapper so as to fit between the beveled edges of twoof said adjacent articles in order to hold said sleeve against movementalong the length of said package, said sleeve and said wrapper beingcapable of temporary deformation so as to permit said sleeve to be movedalong the length of said package;

a cap having a top wall and a peripheral cylindrical skirt, saidperipheral skirt fitting against the exterior of said sleeve adjacent toan end of said sleeve so as to hold said top wall against said end ofsaid sleeve; and

coacting holding means for securing said cap to said sleeve formed onsaid skirt and on said sleeve.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the distance between saidprojection on the interior of said sleeve and said end of said sleeve isthe same as the thickness of one of said articles.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap is formed of amaterial capable of temporary deformation and wherein said holding meanscomprises:

a continuous internal projection located on the interior of said skirtso as to extend around the interior of said skirt and a groove formed onthe exterior of said sleeve so as to extend around the exterior of saidsleeve, said cap being capable of being deformed so that said projectionon said skirt fits into said groove on the exterior of said sleeve.

4. A dispensing sleeve and closure combination which comprises:

an elongated cylindrical package having a flexible exterior wrapperenclosing a plurality of articles;

a tubular sleeve having a hollow interior bore surface and open ends,said sleeve being provided on its interior surface with means forengaging between separate articles of said multi-article package, saidpackage extending snugly through said bore, said means being disposedintermediate the open ends of said sleeve; and

cap means comprising a closure for one of said ends and a peripheralskirt disposable in removable en- 5 gagement over the exterior surfaceof said sleeve 2,300,179 adjacent one of said open ends. 2,523,4572,886,198 References Cited in the file of this patent 3,032,240

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 825,116 Engels July 3, 1906 4 4 1,186,290 DavisJune 6, 1916 40 02 1,502,496 Williams July 22, 1924 Rosen Oct. 27, 1942Thompson Sept. 26, 1950 Herter May 12, 1959 Dunklee May 1, 1962 FOREIGNPATENTS Netherlands Apr. 15, 1957 Great Britain July 13, 1960

4. A DISPENSING SLEEVE AND CLOSURE COMBINATION WHICH COMPRISES: ANELONGATED CYLINDRICAL PACKAGE HAVING A FLEXIBLE EXTERIOR WRAPPERENCLOSING A PLURALITY OF ARTICLES; A TUBULAR SLEEVE HAVING A HOLLOWINTERIOR BORE SURFACE AND OPEN ENDS, SAID SLEEVE BEING PROVIDED ON ITSINTERIOR SURFACE WITH MEANS FOR ENGAGING BETWEEN SEPARATE ARTICLES OFSAID MULTI-ARTICLE PACKAGE, SAID PACKAGE EXTENDING SNUGLY THROUGH SAIDBORE, SAID MEANS BEING DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE THE OPEN ENDS OF SAIDSLEEVE; AND CAP MEANS COMPRISING A CLOSURE FOR ONE OF SAID ENDS AND APERIPHERAL SKIRT DISPOSABLE IN REMOVABLE ENGAGEMENT OVER THE EXTERIORSURFACE OF SAID SLEEVE ADJACENT ONE OF SAID OPEN ENDS.